From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

Hi All,

When you guys use ground cover fabric to keep the weeds
down, what do you use to secure the fabric to the ground?

Many thanks,
-T
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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

T wrote:

Hi All,

When you guys use ground cover fabric to keep the weeds
down, what do you use to secure the fabric to the ground?

i prefer not use it at all, plain cardboard overlapping
layers instead and hold it down with wood chip mulch, every
few years the mulch will need some topping off and perhaps
if the weeds are stubborn you might need to scrape the mulch
back and replace the cardboard, but it depends upon if the
weeds seem to be coming through or not.

in places in some perennial gardens and around some trees
we've done weed barrier fabric or other things (old carpeting)
and pretty much it's become a mess that is now getting over-
grown with weeds because it will take way too much work to
redo it - an eventual mess IMO. some weed barrier fabrics
break down so to remove them means picking all those pieces
out. bleah... at least with cardboard it will rot away to
humus along with some of the woodchips and then it becomes
a valuable garden amendment.

we put rocks or pieces of wood along the edges to hold it
down if it won't stay in place.

we don't have termite problems or fire risks here to worry
too much about wood mulches. we do have the black carpenter
ants so i do have to keep an eye out for them coming too
close to the house and trying to set up new colonies in the
walls. it's taken me nearly 30 years to get most of the
cracks caulked up so they aren't coming in the house, but
there's some places i can't get to so ...


songbird
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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

On 6/6/24 04:05, songbird wrote:

wood chip mulch

Has to

1) withstand walking on
2) withstand 104 mile per Hour winds
3) be fireproof



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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

On 6/6/24 19:51, T wrote:

On 6/6/24 04:05, songbird wrote:

wood chip mulch

Has to

1) withstand walking on
2) withstand 104 mile per Hour winds
3) be fireproof

Also, mulch on top of fabric beaks down in a few years
and become the ideal medium for weeds.

I just found out that any perennials under the cover
will poke through too. I am sensing that covering
is a bad idea.

The goal is to control blowing dust.

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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

T wrote:
...

Also, mulch on top of fabric beaks down in a few years
and become the ideal medium for weeds.

at that point it becomes a garden amendment material
and is replaced by new wood chips.

but for your application it won't work.

I just found out that any perennials under the cover
will poke through too. I am sensing that covering
is a bad idea.

not if they're dead. if you do it right (a few layers
of overlapping cardboard and a thick layer of wood chips
on top will smother most perennials within a year, by
the next year any that still have any energy left in
their root systems you pull back the wood chips, cut off
what is growing and repeat the process, i've not had any
perennial weeds that survive into the third year if kept
cut off and smothered for those first two years. we've
also put the cardboard layers under weed barrier fabric
and that also helps defeat persistent perennial weeds.

The goal is to control blowing dust.

upwind wind breaks, large rocks, walls, substantial
fencing, direct 100+ winds aren't going to be deterred
by anything minor. even a very sturdy tree is going
to have a hard time standing up to that.

basically at that point the overall siting of the
place would be critical and i'd not want it put out
in the open and otherwise be in the lee of a hill or
some other natural features.

with fire risk trying to grow trees as a windbreak
only works if the they are able to be planted quite a
ways upwind.

improperly designed wind breaks can act as a channel
and in the case of fires that would be like a potential
blow torch, so that's far outside my experience.

for 100+ MPH dust storms you're not going to control
that, you just have to build to survive that
structurally and if you do put up wind breaks you
probably need to think in terms of how they would
respond to such large events. sand blown with that
much force is going to scour pretty much anything
growing - it'd have to be very tough to survive
that...


songbird
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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

On 6/5/24 22:16, T wrote:

Hi All,

When you guys use ground cover fabric to keep the weeds
down, what do you use to secure the fabric to the ground?

Many thanks,
-T

I have come up with a workaround.

The goal was weed control and keeping
blowing dust down.

The weed control I will be using is hydrolyzed corn
gluten:
https://getlawnbright.com/products/organic-crabgrass-control
And it is Organic certified.

You can read how this works over at

https://www.hort.iastate.edu/horticulture-research/corn-gluten-meal-research/

Basically, it works by making a sealant over the seeds, blocking them
from germinating.

And, checking with the manufacturer, the sealant action does
keep blowing dust down.




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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

On 6/7/24 14:11, T wrote:

On 6/5/24 22:16, T wrote:

Hi All,

When you guys use ground cover fabric to keep the weeds
down, what do you use to secure the fabric to the ground?

Many thanks,
-T

I have come up with a workaround.

The goal was weed control and keeping
blowing dust down.

The weed control I will be using is hydrolyzed corn
gluten:
-a-a https://getlawnbright.com/products/organic-crabgrass-control
And it is Organic certified.

You can read how this works over at

https://www.hort.iastate.edu/horticulture-research/corn-gluten-meal-research/

Basically, it works by making a sealant over the seeds, blocking them
from germinating.

And, checking with the manufacturer, the sealant action does
keep blowing dust down.

I will have to spray several times
a year, but I am going to have to do that anyway.


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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

For securing ground cover fabric, I usually go for garden staples or pins. They're easy to userCojust push them through the fabric and into the ground. Plus, they hold everything down pretty well, even in windy weather. Sometimes I'll also toss a few rocks or bricks on top for extra security, especially around the edges. It's all about finding what works best for your setup!

You can visit https://bestfabricsofa.com/ for more useful tips and advice.
--
For full context, visit https://www.homeownershub.com/edible/ground-cover-fabric-3468260-.htm

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From Newsgroup: rec.gardens.edible

On 6/8/24 18:45, Best Fabric Sofa wrote:

For securing ground cover fabric, I usually go for garden staples or
pins. They're easy to userCojust push them through the fabric and into the ground. Plus, they hold everything down pretty well, even in windy
weather. Sometimes I'll also toss a few rocks or bricks on top for extra security, especially around the edges. It's all about finding what works best for your setup!

You can visit https://bestfabricsofa.com/ for more useful tips and advice.

Pins won't work. The ground is very, very hard and full on
lake bottom rocks.
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